Overview
- U.S. Southern Command said Joint Task Force Southern Spear, acting at the direction of Gen. Francis L. Donovan, conducted the Feb. 13 strike on a vessel it labeled as operated by designated terrorist organizations, with no U.S. casualties reported.
- Officials said intelligence placed the boat along known narcotics routes in the Caribbean and described those killed as “narco‑terrorists,” though no identities, location details, or supporting evidence were released.
- Media tallies now put the campaign’s death toll at about 133 people across at least 38 strikes since September 2025 in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.
- This was the second publicly known strike this week, following a separate attack in the eastern Pacific that killed two and left one survivor, with search‑and‑rescue coordination noted by Ecuador’s maritime center.
- Legal and political scrutiny continues as human‑rights experts question the lawfulness of the killings and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth touts effectiveness without offering corroborating details.